MovieChat Forums > Phantom Punch Discussion > 4 biggest problems with this

4 biggest problems with this

posted 14 years ago by oliverfennell
9 replies | jump to latest

Ving Rhames was too old for the role
- I think his casting was OK. A big, brooding, menacing heavyweight is no stretch for him. But the man is 50 years old. OK, he was in good physical shape, but you could see the age on his face. He looked 50 when he was supposed to be 20.

- Nobody aged
Furthermore, he looked 50 when he was supposed to be 20, and also when he was supposed to be 30, and 40. And nobody else aged, whether his manager, his wife, his mistress, the priest. The story encompasses around 20 years but NOBODY gets any older through the whole movie!

- Boxing crowds
I'll forgive the fight choreography. It WAS pretty poor, but the story was about the man more than the fights. But the budget really showed when we had fights for the Heavyweight Championship of the World taking place in front of about 500 people. It felt like small-hall boxing and gave no atmosphere of the historical importance of these events.

- Pacing
Everything moved to quickly. One minute, he's fresh out of prison and walking into a boxing gym. Next minute, he's driving a huge car, with no indication of the time that has passed. A few minutes later, he's challenging for the world title. Then the fights themselves were given no build-up, and minimal aftermath, yet the events SURROUNDING the fights were arguably more important than the fights themselves.

[–] Steven_Spielbergo 14 years ago

The age and pacing thing really bugged me. Hes in prison and he looks to be in his mid 30's hes out of prison and he looks exactly the same, even has the same mustache the entire movie. Then I guess a lot of years passed and he became champ, but by the pacing and looks of the movie youd think it was a week. If someone went into this without any knowledge of Sonny Liston theyd be utterly baffled at the whole thing.

Really not a very good movie and Im not a picky person at all when it comes to movies.

[–] 14 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Cobra12 14 years ago

Liston's age has been disputed. He was said to be neary 40 odd when fought Ali?

[–] oliverfennell 13 years ago

Liston's age has been disputed. He was said to be neary 40 odd when fought Ali?

Sure, nobody really knew his exact age, not even the man himself.

[–] Cobra12 13 years ago

I think he was a really good fighter, good all round skills, bit slow, but huge power, and stamina. I also don;t buy this 'he was a bully' stuff either.

oliverfennell, do you write boxing articles on a site by any chance?

[–] Sparky48 11 years ago

True. But I think that the OP's point is that in scenes in which he was supposed to be in his 20s or 30s, he looked much older.

But in addition to what has already been stated on this thread, my biggest problem with this movie, which was really a flop, can be summed up in two words: Stacey Dash.

Stacey is a strikingly gorgeous woman, as hot as they come. But this girl CANNOT act a lick. In many of the scenes in which she appears in this movie playing Liston's wife, her acting is truly terrible. I don't know why Townsend cast her for this role. Her only asset is her looks, and because the real-life Geraldine Liston wasn't a very attractive woman (no dis on her), an attractive actress really wasn't necessary. Perhaps if he had cast a more competent actress to play this role, this movie could have fared a lot better.

[–] ffresheye 9 years ago

I disagree Sparky, Stacy was the only good thing in this movie, not her acting, but just to see that she was still so beautiful as late as 2007. I can't fathom how you single her out as being "the" problem with this movie. If she was the greatest actress in history it wouldn't have saved this movie! If she had done some nude scenes it would've made it watchable though! :)

It was all style no substance and the style wasn't so great. This thing needed a standing eight count, it was out on its feet the whole time.

[–] willjohn 9 years ago

He was in the 1940 US census but not the 1930 US census. He could not have been older than 34.

[–] loganstclair 12 years ago

The pacing is absolutely the biggest problem with this movie. It went from one highlight to the next. Nothing was given a build-up. There was no emotional weight to any scene or any character.